- What is parental responsibility?
Parental responsibility is defined in section 3(1) of the Children Act 1989 as being: "All the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property". The term parental responsibility attempts to focus on the parent's duties towards their child, rather than the parent's rights over their child.
In practical terms, parental responsibility means the power to make important decisions in relation to a child - for example, decisions about where a child is to live, whether a child should receive medical treatment, what religion the child should follow and which school they should attend.
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